Influences in fashion can come from many places. Recently I have written about a few like films and art. But fashions influence can also come from everyday people. It can come in the from of a work uniform that is somehow appealing to the the masses. It can be a design element that is functional that somehow transcends and causes hysteria of copy-cat wearers. An example could be those sexy little spandex shorts that grace the behinds of bike messengers that suddenly cross over into club wearing kids. Perhaps it’s the legions of business women sporting Nikes with their Donna Karan or Armani business suit while toting a huge Fendi bag. These trends are usually born out of a combination of necessity, envy, a light touch of the practicality and a heavy dose of design flair. But these trends are also a movement that point or reflect where society is going and how it is reflected most often by youth as they, unlike their parents, have more disposible income. Below are a short list of some pretty cool trends that have boiled up from the populace and how they still influence design today.The Zoot Suit.
A ethnic mixture of Puerto Rican, African, Filipino and Italian style that could only be mixed in America during the late 1930 and 1940s. The look which featured a generously cut, widely padded shoulder jacket with equally generously cut (almost baggy) pants that tapered in a the cuff. It gained a strong hold in Harlem and became synonymous with jazz.
It even spawned a play of the same name. In the 80’s MC Hammer brought a re-interpretation of the Zoot Suit with his Hammer pants. They were extremely popular in the gym with the weight lifters. They were everywhere. I must confess, I still have a pair (in fact I wear them a lot as pjs - they are so comfortable.) John Galliano used the Zoot suit as inspiration for his 2002 Spring Collection
http://www.stageandscreenwriters.com/Paul_Glitter.html
http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/center/events/Sleepy_Lagoon/SleepyLagCol.htm
http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/center/events/Sleepy_Lagoon/SleepyLagCol.htm
Teddy BoysAfter WW2, Savile Row in London tried to reintroduce Edwardian period clothing. (Edwardian... aka Teddy - get it?) The style features a long frock coat, sometimes with a velvet or contrasting lapel. It is worn with tight formfit trousers (or currently jeans) accompanied with a vest and perhaps a skinny tie (maybe even a bolo tie). The hair is usually a overdone and big, gelled with aa duck tail cut in the back.
The style was picked up by rockers and became a subculture. A side note: It seems pretty apparent that most trends in clothing seem to stem from the young. Each generation tries to put a stamp or mark on fashion with it’s own unique joie de vivre. One could call this look classically now. Junya Watanabe also reintroduced this look in Spring 2007 Jen Laugesen trotted the Teddy Boy look out in early 2008 as did the Topshop in 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Boy
http://www.rockabilly.nl/general/teddyboys.htm
http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s/1950s_4_teenagers_teddy_boys.htm
Beatniks
Also in the 1950’s, but moving into the early 1960’s, the Beat or Beatnik generation was philosophically grounded and as partly a reaction to capitalism. The fashion movement was counter-cultural and lofty in idealism from many different and diverse viewpoints. It has a huge influence with the writings of Jack Kerouac and kind of a “F.U.” mentality.
One common thread however was dress… think a French beret, black turtlenecks, and very tight, skinny (usually cropped jeans). It was a symbol for years of intellectualism…. In fact, go on many college campuses today and you will see professors sporting the looks… at least the beret and the turtleneck. In 2006, Gap used original footage from the film Funny Face to introduce it’s reissuance of the skinny leg jean from that time period.
The film featured fashion icon Audrey Hepburn as a Beatnik.http://www.backinskinnyjeans.com/2006/09/model_too_skinn.html
http://propagandica.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/knowles-hepburn/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_%28clothing_retailer%29
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-miller/audrey-hepburn-dead-is-th_b_29484.html
ModsRunning at the same time as the beatniks was the Mods. Like the decades previous Teddy Boys, the Mods were a British inspired movement. This movement is a bit more difficult to nail down as it was defined as anything believed to be Modern, fashionable and popular. It was a reaction to the early 50’s James Dean look of the greaser /rural town rocker. This was also a style that was more androgynous with women wearing men’s trousers and little makeup and men wearing black eyeliner.
This was also a subculture that had a noticeable use of amphetamines as a recreational drug. Twiggy was the visual spokerperson for this movement as was Mary Quant with her micro mini skirts. Giles in Spring 2006 and Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein in Spring 2009 took a huge stab at creating very modern clothing for today’s crowd. Both were very successful in something that is very difficult… modern can be hard without looking kitchy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod_%28subculture%29
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/fashion/mod-fashion.htm
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/60s/60s_mods.html
HippiesDrugs, sex and rock and roll. The sixties hippies was a falling out of society in that fashion was anti-fashion. Jeans and t-shirts was the norm. Crochet and patchwork, the look of poverty mixed with the music of Janis Joplin and a few mild altering drugs, this subculture also brought us psychedelic clothing and the tie dyed t-shirt.
This generation, like our current one, was reacting to war and the ugliness of the world. The previous generations has a lot of economic problems as the result of war. This generation did not like the war from many grounds and thus checked out.
Sidenote #2 Not that I am a prude by any standard, but I do find it odd (and perhaps a little sad), each generation has found a new drug of choice.
Balmain brought tie dye into the collection in Sprint 2007 as well as a recent 2009 sexy collection by Proenza Schouler.http://www.buzzle.com/articles/1960s-hippies-fashion.html
http://www.syl.com/articles/thehippiesfashion.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Hippie-Fashion-Statement&id=743650
PunkBy the time the seventies hit, punk was a total reaction to society’s previous sentimentality of 1970’s rock. This mid 70’s trend, started with the followers of the bands the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. Design-wise, it was the brainchild of Vivienne Westwood in London.
The style was in-your-face, rough, tough and abrasive. Much like the original etymology of the word which ment “a young male hustler, a gangster, a hoodlum, or a ruffian.”
Like many of it’s predecessors, punk’s look featured tight pants but also heavy makeup, body piercings, Chuck Taylor shoes and at times, multicolored Mohawk hairstyles. Galliano brought out a punk collection in 2000. Vivienne Westwood always has a punk element in her collections… even when she isn’t even trying. Junya Watanabe got the vibe down in Spring 2006.
http://punkskamusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/punk_fashionhttp://www.eightyeightynine.com/culture/80s-punk-hair.html
http://www.fastnbulbous.com/punk.htm
DiscoThank god we have arrived at something I can relate to… dancing on a box til dawn. Disco was all about just that… dancing. It was sexy nightclub gear almost painted on tight. Can clothing get any tighter? Spandex was in full reign in this decade of non-stop dancing, and of course, cocaine (the drug which kept you dancing until all hours of the morning.) Fabrics were shiny, often times metallic. Quianna knit was a fiber that Dupont had developed and it was everywhere. Body hugging but with drape, this clothing allowed movement but showed the body to it’s best advantage…. Ok, this design trend I miss. Unfortunately, Rafael Lopez in Spring 2002 did a really hack job at trying to bring it back. It was as pretty as a bad acid flashback.
http://www.fashion-era.com/1970s.htmhttp://coutureallure.blogspot.com/2009/09/disco-fever-fashion-1978.html
http://www.life123.com/beauty/fashion/disco/disco-fashion.shtml
HiphopAs distinctive as the music, hip hop style has an African American origin. It was an urban dress that started with a mix of track suits, heavy jewelry, leather jackets and Puma or Adidas running shoes. Over time, this has morphed into throwback jerseys and baggy pants and jewelry. There is lots of bling, layers and layers of bling in this fashion movement. This movement has also been very long lasting. It has also spawned many, many fashion designer who were rappers and music celebrities like Baby Phat and, Queen Latifah. This style movement really is celebrity and musician-based and developed. Other designers have tried really hard to catch this bandwagon.
Everyone from Louis Vuitton, Prada, True Religion, Rock & Republic, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren have worked really hard to cash in on this phenomena. Thus it has become a very lucrative target market and design style for many design companies. Many hip hop artists have since come out against all the commercialism that is so prevalent in this genre of dress. To that point, this is a design trend that seems to be fading as the rappers age and become more lucrative in their own right. The most recent collection that was rapper/hiphop inspired seems to be Chirstian Dior in 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_fashion
http://www.kingice.com/hip-hop-fashion.aspx
http://24hourhiphop.com/features/Fashion/
The next trend?
Skinny jeans and skin tight clothing…. What a surprise. Less jewelry – I think the recession and a backlash against the bling of Hiphop I think will be the cure. On a more serious note, I think this will take more research to find a real clear trend. Trends in clothing, particularly street trends, grow from the ground on up and are not dictated by someone in Paris on a runway. Today's youth seem to be quiet. Like preceeding generations, they have found their own drug of choice it seems in CristalMeth as it is readily available and cheap to make. This may change with the legalization of pot in California. The last time I heard, pot was the number one perscription drug in the state now.
I would think the younger trend setter would be feeling a bit more disenfranchised similar to the folks of the early 70's. I think there is some anger their with regards to the state of the economy and lack of jobs. The 70's was a huge time of inflation and a time of war...hmmmm. Sounds familiar. I am seeing some more tie dye garb. But I haven't seen any evidence of a new design trend. Music is more downloaded than bought in a store. Monitoring music trends could be a source to point to but with the pluralism that is now in the music market, everyone has a chance to 15 seconds of fame. There are no clear trend setters... except Lady Gaga whom I see as a flash in the pan.
With that, the music of Evanescence, with it's gothic overtone, that seems more of the direction and style I see coming down the road. This would explain the huge growth in her business in the past few years. But that could also be the result of the museum exhibition that has been traveling the world and the subsequent book. Even so, those two events also point me into the direction of a more punk oriented urban trend coming down the pike.
I will keep you abreast of any new trends I see.
